(The Center Square) – Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has announced more personnel changes to her new administration, including naming an interim fire chief and the pending resignation of the city’s chief financial officer.
Brown appointed deputy fire chief Julie O’Berg to be interim chief of the Spokane Fire Department. O’Berg, who has served as deputy chief of operations since 2020, will move into the interim post following the retirement announcement of Brian Schaeffer, who had led the department since 2017.
“In times of transition, we find strength in leadership,” Brown said in a press release. “Deputy Chief O’Berg is an experienced and qualified leader who is not only respected by her colleagues, but who I know will provide stability for the department through this time of change.”
O’Berg accepted the interim appointment but indicated she will not seek the permanent position of fire chief.
Prior to joining the Spokane department, O’Berg spent 28 years with the Overland Park Fire Department in the metropolitan area of Kansas City, beginning as a firefighter and paramedic and progressing through the ranks to battalion chief. O’Berg was also an investigations unit training officer and served with the Kansas State Incident Management Team.
In a Friday statement, O’Berg said she is “proud to serve the members of the Spokane Fire Department and the Spokane community in this role during this time of transition.”
On Wednesday, Brown announced she and Tonya Wallace, the city’s chief financial officer, had “mutually agreed” to Wallace’s resignation. Wallace intends to “step away” effective Jan. 15, but will assist with the transition as needed in coming months.
Brown appointed Matt Boston, the city’s budget and finance director since 2021, to fill the CFO vacancy. Boston has a background in public accounting with a focus on government and not-for-profit organizations, has worked as budget manager at Eastern Washington University, and remains an instructor in the school’s MBA program.
“Balancing our budget is among my top priorities and I am confident that Matt Boston is the person for the job. His financial experience, strategic foresight, and leadership will be beneficial in my administration’s work to invest in the people of Spokane,” said Brown.
City officials made patchwork adjustments to address a multi-million-dollar shortfall in the 2024 budget’s general fund.
Boston said he will be focused on “collaboration and finding innovative solutions to the budgetary challenges Spokane has faced the past few years.”
Also last week, the Spokane City Council unanimously confirmed Brown’s appointments of Mike Piccolo as city attorney, Erin Hut as communications director, and Dawn Kinder as director of the Neighborhood, Housing, and Human Services Division.
Piccolo was previously assistant city attorney. He succeeds Lynden Smithson, who was appointed last July by then-Mayor Nadine Woodward after serving in an interim capacity since May 2022.
In other transitions between the two mayoral administrations, Brown announced last month that assistant police chief Justin Lundgren will serve as interim chief following the Dec. 31 retirement of Craig Meidl and Garrett Jones will continue to serve as interim city administrator.
